Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Zakoosky

I spent the weekend with a Russian friend of mine named Anna. We went through some of her cook books after a discussion about how Russians like to prepare vegetables. Anna explained to me that "Zakoosky" (the Russian word for appetizers) are usually some style of vegetables preferrably root vegetables. Anna had made some delicious minced carrots and I wanted to learn more!

I spent a few minutes reading a cook book that she has had for over 40 years. You cannot read this book by its cover because the cover has long been gone. I loved turning the frayed pages of this old loved book. I read the Zakoosky section and found parts of it hilarious and wanted to share a portion of it with you.

"There is no definite rule as to what you may or may not serve as zakoosky You serve anything which tastes good, and the more of it the better...While partaking of zakoosky, Russians drink vodka. The correct way to drink Vodka is to gulp it down in one swallow; never sip it. Vodka is usually served in small tumble-type glasses and it tastes best when it is thoroughly chilled. Ladies hardly ever drink more than one or two glasses unless they like to lose control of their behavior. Men naturally drink much more, but either sex makes good use of zakoosky before and immediately after each swallow of vodka".